Netanyahu: Seeking Salvation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy
by M.J. Rosenberg - (Opinion) July 30, 2009 - 12:00am

Benjamin Netanyahu has a problem. The Obama administration is insisting on a settlements freeze and the Israeli prime minister, who is resisting such demands, is not getting the support he might have expected from the American pro-Israel community. Usually, when an American president makes any sort of demand on Jerusalem, pro-Israel (primarily Jewish) organizations compel Congress to pressure the president to cease and desist. It usually works, but not this time.

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The 9th of Av's new tears
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Yisrael Medad - (Opinion) July 30, 2009 - 12:00am

An apocryphal story is told of Napoleon Bonaparte entering a darkened synagogue and observing weeping Jews, sitting on low stools. Asking what misfortune had occurred to cause such behavior, he was informed that it was the ninth day of the Hebrew month of Av.

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Tough on Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
(Editorial) July 30, 2009 - 12:00am

ONE OF THE MORE striking results of the Obama administration's first six months is that only one country has worse relations with the United States than it did in January: Israel. The new administration has pushed a reset button with Russia and sent new ambassadors to Syria and Venezuela; it has offered olive branches to Cuba and Burma. But for nearly three months it has been locked in a public confrontation with Israel over Jewish housing construction in Jerusalem and the West Bank. To a less visible extent, the two governments also have differed over policy toward Iran.

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Contradictory Messages
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by Michael Jansen - (Opinion) July 30, 2009 - 12:00am

The array of envoys dispatched by the US this week to launch a regional peace process reveals that the Obama administration has not learnt the lesson of past failures. The envoys’ personalities and public stands sent contradictory messages to both Arabs and Israelis. From the Arab point of view three of the envoys projected a positive image of the administration and its plans while the Arabs were discouraged and Israel was heartened by the presence of two particular envoys.

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The Settlements Issue
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
(Editorial) July 30, 2009 - 12:00am

The last American president to openly challenge Israel on settlements was George H.W. Bush and we commend President Obama for demanding that Israel halt all new construction. The controversy must not obscure Mr. Obama’s real goal: nudging Israel and the Palestinians into serious peace negotiations.

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Get stuck in, Mr President
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Economist
July 30, 2009 - 12:00am

THE American president may think he has enough on his plate without worrying about the dog’s dinner simmering away in the corner: the sickly Middle East peace process, with its often nauseous ingredients. This week he has sent an array of colleagues to stir the pot, including his envoy, George Mitchell, who has been in and out of the region; Robert Gates, his secretary of defence; and Jim Jones, his security adviser, who knows the Palestinians from the past. But Mr Obama is the indispensable head chef. However preoccupied, it is he who must decide what to serve up—and when.

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Israeli NGO battles settlements in US
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Dan Izenberg - July 30, 2009 - 12:00am

The left-wing organization Gush Shalom is launching a campaign against organizations soliciting donations in the United States, particularly those receiving US federal tax exemptions for settlements and illegal outposts, The Jerusalem Post has learned. The timing of the campaign has been stepped up from September to August because the Foreign Ministry recently launched its own campaign to block governments of foreign countries from donating money to human rights organizations in Israel.

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Obama's Middle East map
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by Patrick Seale - (Analysis) July 30, 2009 - 12:00am

The utter determination of US President Barack Obama to bring peace to the Middle East is no longer in doubt. The US president's manner is gentle. He seeks to persuade rather than coerce. He gives precedence to the carrot rather than the stick. But the iron will is there. It would be rash indeed for Arabs or Israelis to attempt to thwart him. Right across the region the message is sinking in. We are beginning to witness what might be called the 'Obama effect'.

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The world smiles on Obama, but not Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Raphael Ahren - July 29, 2009 - 12:00am

Israel alone in a poll of 25 nations has decreased its approval of the United States since President Barack Obama took office earlier this year, according to a recent survey.

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US must put more pressure on Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
(Editorial) July 29, 2009 - 12:00am

The United States is getting it wrong in its approach to the Middle East peace process. Asking the Arabs to make concessions while the Netanyahu government shuns all peace efforts is like putting the cart before the horse - it will never work. How can US President Barack Obama justify his pressure on Arab states to introduce 'confidence-building measures' when Israel is rejecting his calls to stop confiscating Palestinian land and building more colonies?

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